Having moved to Sligo from the hospital and leaving behind my cherished group of friends from home it was not always easy to meet people in a new area where I had not previously lived. Life isn’t easy, but it can be beautiful and during times of suffering, we see true goodness that exists in this world. I could not put a number on the amount of people who have helped or offered to help me in the past eight years in Sligo town; complete strangers on the street and making some lifelong friends along the way. With the help of some wonderful people I learned, my confidence and self-belief grew and my life progressed. They helped me fully appreciate that I was and will always be more than a body They showed me to view my chair not as a negative but rather much the opposite. A device that supported me, aided my movement, assisted me achieve freedom. Not something that trapped or confined me as I initially believed. This journey of disability is vulnerable, and on the tough days you want to be surrounded by the people who are going to affirm and lift you up, not project or tear you down.
A local sports and recreational officer in Sligo organised volunteers to assist me with transport and the use of certain sporting equipment. This enabled me to meet some wonderful, like-minded individuals both volunteers and participants. Volunteers helped me partake in a whole array of activities from handcycling, to wheelchair basketball to assisted mountain biking and other adventure sports. Help from volunteers opened a new avenue to myself, one I thought I could no longer access. Sport and physical activity are central to the fabric of life in Ireland. Everyone, no matter what their background or circumstances, should have the opportunity to engage in sport and physical activity at a level of their choosing. Little over a year out of the hospital, I found myself paddling peacefully in the crisp waters of Lough Gill alongside many able-bodied paddlers. What a liberating feeling and at that moment I understood why this beautiful lake figured so prominently in the writings of W. B. Yeats. Gill lies beneath the graceful profile of Ben Bulben, one of the Dartry Mountains, with one of Yeats’ last poems, “Under Ben Bulben,” alluding to this majestic rock formation as a silent sentinel looming over Irish history.
The freedom and tranquil harmony as my chair bobbed along on the cold clear waters of Lough Gill. It was the most freedom I had felt in a long time. Freedom from the rigours of a life on pause indoors, passively worrying about the future. Our inside world is static, totally controlled; outdoors gives us variety and perhaps serendipity. This paddle boat on the open water provided a small antidote to the oppressive repetition of the hospital and institute combined that had become my life. Listening to the birds sing on the choppy water, the feeling of unrestraint was like nothing I could remember. The picturesque Lough Gill and the Garavogue River, located 3km east of Sligo town, is one of my favourite places to be and I will miss my daily excursions along its beautiful shores. It has been part of my journey for a quarter of my life now and I will miss it dearly.
I have experienced some of the most spectacular scenery and met some of the most wonderful people in the beautiful Sligo! Among its sites are Parke’s Castle, Dooney Rock, the Lake Isle of Innisfree (made famous in poetry and song), Hazelwood Sculpture Trail (a unique forest walk along the shores of Lough Gill with 13 wood sculptures) and the entrancing waters of Glencar Lake. Majestic Sligo contains so much beauty, culture and history with its bracing seaside resorts of Strandhill and Rosses Point, as well as megalithic sites Carrowmore Cemetery and Medb’s Cairn, set atop Knocknarea Mountain. Drumcliffe, the place of W B Yeats burial, sits below Benbulben Mountain and the county’s dramatic land- and seascapes continue to its northern tip with fine beaches such as at Mullaghmore.
Moving home and starting over, in any context, is ripe with possibility of sloughing off what didn’t work, what previously held me back, or stomping out fears that don’t deserve to rule me anymore. Instead of being fearful of change and what lies ahead, I now embrace the potential that change makes possible. I try to view it as adventurous, perhaps even exhilarating. I have learnt to celebrate change rather than try to avoid it; endings are only natural too. People who are more resilient choose to embrace the unpredictability of life, the pain and the adversity because they know that the rewards, they gain are priceless. Like it or not, change is inevitable. Learning to accept, embrace and grow from the change is an invaluable life skill. I’ve learnt there are going to be some roadblocks on your path to success. Although it’s hard to take that initial leap into the unknown, what’s amazing about the future is that no one has a hold on it. We step into it in equal beat with everyone else. That means no one can tell you for certain what your life will look like, least of all who you’ll look like, if you decide to turn the page and pursue something unexpected and surprising. I can look to the future; however uncertain it may be, having closed a chapter in life on an adventuresome time and starting a new one. There’s almost nothing more freeing than the feeling of a fresh start. Sometimes, the best way to move forward is to close the chapter with confidence but saying goodbye is never easy!